Author: BBC

Joanna MorrisBBC Shared Data UnitGetty ImagesThe number of children in drug and alcohol treatment has been rising since the coronavirus pandemicThree women whose teenage sons died after becoming addicted to drugs have told the BBC the system failed their children.Anita Morris, Nicola Howarth and Kate Roux spoke to the BBC as part of a wide-ranging investigation into the failings of drug treatment for young people.It found significant disparities in community care and a lack of state-funded residential facilities for under-18s.Analysis shows more than half of the 16,000 children in drug and alcohol treatment in the past year were 15 or…

Jasmine Ketibuah-FoleyandAlastair McKee,West of EnglandBBCAnton Hammer said his warm home has meant fewer visits to his GPA charity has been shortlisted for an award after helping vulnerable households keep warm during the winter months. Gloucestershire charity Severn Wye started its Warm Homes Prescription pilot in 2022. Patients with respiratory, coronary, or complex health conditions, on low incomes, are given grants to help with their energy bills, using government funding.The charity said the aim of the project is to help prevent the need for hospital care.Anton Hammer, 72, who suffers from Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease said he was constantly visiting his…

Osmond Chia,Business reporterandSilvano Hajid,BBC IndonesiaGetty ImagesGrok, a tool on Musk’s X platform, allows users to generate imagesMalaysia and Indonesia have blocked access to Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Grok over its ability to produce sexually explicit deepfakes.Grok, a tool on Musk’s X platform, allows users to generate images but has recently been used to edit images of real people to show them in revealing outfits.The South East Asian countries said Grok could be used to produce pornographic and non-consensual images involving women and children. They are the first in the world to ban the AI tool.There is also growing…

Nick TriggleHealth correspondentBBCAs ambulances queued in front of Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading last week, corridors full of patients were waiting for a bed on a ward. Emergency department consultant Omar Nafousi was at his wit’s end.”We’ve no space,” he told the BBC last week. “This is not what I signed up for when I became a doctor.”It is a scene that is being repeated in hospitals up and down the country as winter viruses and cold weather add to the pressures on the health service. Currently nearly 4,000 beds in England alone are taken up by patients with flu,…

Richard Bilton,BBC PanoramaandBen Milne,BBC NewsGetty ImagesVets have told BBC Panorama they feel under increasing pressure to make money for the big companies that employ them – and worry about the costly financial impact on pet owners.Prices charged by UK vets rose by 63% between 2016 and 2023, and the government’s competition regulator has questioned whether the pet-care market – as it stands – is giving customers value for money. One anonymous vet, who works for the UK’s largest vet care provider, IVC Evidensia, said that the company has introduced a new monitoring system that could encourage vets to offer pet…

Rianna CroxfordInvestigations correspondent BBCVictoria Woodall has taken Google to an employment tribunalA senior Google employee has claimed she was made redundant after reporting a manager who told clients stories about his swinger lifestyle and showed a nude of his wife.Victoria Woodall told an employment tribunal she was subjected to a campaign of retaliation by the company after whistleblowing on the man who was later sacked.Google UK’s internal investigation found the manager had touched two female colleagues without their consent, and his behaviour amounted to sexual harassment, documents seen by the BBC in court show.The tech giant denies retaliating against Woodall…

Nathan BriantSouth of England Annette BevanAnnette Bevan wants other mums to feel that they can play rugby after having a childThe co-founder of a rugby club for women who have had children said the sport is ideal for new mums who want to stay active.Annette Bevan, a mum-of-two who currently plays for Reading Abbey RFC, is one of the coordinators of the Maa Maas club.It has about 920 mums following its Facebook page and about 150 signed up to play matches, with one set to take place in Newcastle in April.”You have to carve out that time for yourself,” she…

Kevin PeacheyCost of living correspondentGetty ImagesAs the new year got into its stride, so did the UK’s index of leading shares.The FTSE 100 climbed above 10,000 points for the first time since it was created in 1984, cheering investors – and the chancellor, who wants more of us to move money out of cash savings and into investments.The index tracks the performance of the 100 largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange and rose by more than a fifth in 2025.But with many people still struggling with everyday costs, and with talk of some stocks being overvalued, does the…

The UK government says X limiting Grok AI image edits to users who pay a monthly fee is “insulting” to victims of misogyny and sexual violence. It follows backlash after Elon Musk’s AI engine digitally changed images of people by undressing them – something it says it now can only do for those who pay a monthly instalment. The BBC’s technology editor Zoe Kleinman explains what’s happened and why.

Becky MortonPolitical reporterGetty ImagesSome people are waiting more than a year to have their disability benefit claims processed, which risks pushing them into debt and poverty, MPs have warned.The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) aims to process 75% of new claims for Personal Independence Payment (Pip) within 75 working days but in the last financial year only 51% of claims were processed within this timeframe.A report by the cross-party Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the department was providing “unacceptably poor service levels”.The DWP said that at the end of October, the average time taken for a Pip claim to…